


a night to remember

by mullethyuck



Series: we're all in this together [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Embarrassment, Gen, Halloween Costumes, High School, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, M/M, Mentions of Hannah Montana, No Plot/Plotless, School Dances, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-22
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-11-27 16:51:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18196823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mullethyuck/pseuds/mullethyuck
Summary: If you'd asked Lee Jeno 24 hours ago how he thought his halloween would go, this definitely would not have been his answer.





	a night to remember

**Author's Note:**

> no proofreading we word vomit like men
> 
> obviously don't take this seriously lmao i can't believe this is the first thing i'm posting to this account (actually yeah i can)
> 
> to be fair i blame calla for this ok it's all [her fault](https://twitter.com/caloongi/status/1108831430459772928?s=21)

If you'd asked Lee Jeno 24 hours ago how he thought his halloween would go, this definitely would _not_ have been his answer.

For one thing, this halloween party is super lame. Like, sure, it's a school party, so he isn't sure why he’d been expecting something amazing to begin with. They just always look so cool in the movies. Maybe Jeno had been naive enough to believe it, even just a little.

For another thing, his best friends chose the worst costumes in the history of the world. Donghyuck is Michael Jackson, like he is every fucking year. There's something to be said for dedication, but like honestly, Hyuck’s a creative guy - surely he could've come up with something else. Literally anything else. Renjun is Peter Pan, and Jeno has no idea where that came from, except maybe the fact he's small and cute. (He'd rather die than tell Renjun that, though.) Jaemin and Mark are Kaito Kid and Detective Conan, because apparently they found time to coordinate with each other but not anyone else.

And then there's Jeno, who’s dressed as a crown prince, for no reason other than the fact he didn't have any ideas and it was one of the last costumes he'd been able to find the day before halloween. So, not his best effort.

When he steps through the big double doors of the gym, he's instantly assaulted with music that has too much bass and an obscene number of disco balls. There's a table with food and punch, which seems to be the spot everyone is gravitating toward, and there's a total of like, five people dancing. It's really underwhelming.

Jaemin isn't fazed by the lack of enthusiasm from their classmates, probably because he has more than their entire grade combined. “Oh my god, there's a kid dressed as Pennywise!” he all but yells into Jeno’s ear.

“What is his friend supposed to be?” Jeno says back at a normal volume, because he has some sense of propriety.

“I have no fucking clue,” Mark answers, squinting at the kid on the other end of the basketball court. “He's like, a mouse with an ax?”

Donghyuck snorts. “A darker interpretation of Jerry’s character.”

“Shut up, he's cute,” Jaemin protests, swatting Mark and Hyuck gently on the arms.

“As riveting as this analysis of a random freshman’s costume is, can we please go get some food? I'm dying,” Renjun cuts in.

The group collectively nods, uttering words of affirmation, before making their way over to the table that seemingly the entire student body is crowded around. There isn't really a system to it, so Renjun just starts squeezing past people till he manages to grab a plate and shove whatever food he can reach onto it. Jeno grabs as many glasses of punch as he can hold, and passes them out to his friends one by one.

Then they just stand awkwardly off to the side, Renjun leaning against the wall as he devours his food. Jaemin’s bickering with Mark and Donghyuck again, this time about which generic pop star is singing whatever is blasting through the speakers at the moment. Donghyuck swears it's Hannah Montana, and Jeno can't hear what Jaemin is saying over the vibrations of the music itself but Mark is rubbing his temples like he's restraining himself from engaging in the conversation.

Jeno, for his part, is just standing there. He doesn't really feel inclined to dance, because while he's good at it, his costume doesn't exactly allow full range of motion. Plus, the makeshift dance floor is nearly empty. Only three people occupy it now, and two of them are just talking.

At some point Renjun finishes his food, Donghyuck concedes that maybe they aren't, in fact, listening to Hannah Montana, and Jeno stops staring into space long enough to suggest they walk around. There's a costume contest later, and he wants to scope out the competition - not that he's expecting to win, but whatever. It gives them something to do.

They lap the gym, sticking close to the wall so they can get a better view of everyone’s costumes. A few stand out, like a senior who's dressed as Tony the Tiger (probably a furry), and a couple who came as Jack and Rose and won't stop reenacting that one scene where Rose says she's flying or whatever. Then again, that's not as bad as the guy who came dressed as a minion. Jeno absentmindedly wonders if he's a Facebook mom at heart.

At some point in their wandering, the chaperones change. Jeno doesn't really get why chaperones have to work in shifts, because it's not like this will be a long party; the school staff kicks them out at 10pm, but whatever. He figures it's because they're old and it's probably past their bedtime.

Frankly, the only reason the chaperone change is even on Jeno’s radar is because there's suddenly a lot of whispering going on amongst his peers. Whispers that seem to be directed right at him, or at least in his general direction. He looks around at his friends, who are all acting as confused as he is, till Renjun points somewhere off to their left.

Jeno freezes instantly. “You've got to be fucking kidding me.”

Donghyuck bursts into laughter, while Mark and Jaemin send him sympathetic looks. Renjun just looks like he pities him. Jeno can’t really blame him for that.

He’s torn between running to the bathroom and hiding the rest of the night, or acting like absolutely nothing is wrong and hoping that everyone will blow it off. He doesn't get a chance to do either, though, because half a minute later his dad is walking up to Jeno and his friends, boyfriend in tow.

“Hey, Mr. Kim!” Donghyuck says airily, and Jeno knows he's enjoying this. Sadist.

“Hello, Donghyuck,” Jeno’s dad replies politely. “Nice costume,” he adds like it isn't the exact same one he sees Hyuck in every October.

“You too!” Donghyuck flashes Jeno a devilish smile, eyes flickering back and forth from Jeno’s costume to his dad’s. He's dressed like the king to Jeno’s prince, and Jeno has never wanted to die more than he does in this exact moment.

At least until the next moment, when he realizes his dad’s boyfriend is wearing a matching Hanbok. Jeno chokes on his own spit. “Uh, hey Dad. Hey...Jason,” he says stiffly.

Jeno’s dad laughs, smiling so big Jeno can see his gums. “Don't be so embarrassed, Jen! We won't bother you, don't worry.” Jeno finds that really hard to believe.

Jason lays an arm around his dad’s shoulders, and Jeno internally cringes. “I'll keep him distracted, you kids just have fun.” He grins, and Jeno thinks it's meant to be encouraging but really it just makes him want to melt into the floor. 

“Okay...see you around, I guess,” he says, because what the fuck else is he supposed to say to his dad’s boyfriend who just crashed his school’s halloween party?

Jeno’s dad turns to walk away, but Jason pauses. “Hey,” he says conspiratorially. “I brought you something.” He pulls out a tiny bottle of Corona, drops it into Jeno’s hand, and turns on his heel. He's gone before Jeno can even process the fact that his dad’s boyfriend is encouraging underage drinking. Even if he's almost 19, and even if it is the tiniest bottle of alcohol to ever exist, probably.

Corona is fucking gross, too. Jason has bad taste.

“What's that?” Renjun asks, because of course he does.

Jeno’s hand closes instinctively around the bottle. “Nothing.” Renjun cocks an eyebrow, but he doesn't say anything else. Jeno throws the bottle in a trash can as they walk by, because he's mortified enough as it is and if anyone found out his dad’s boyfriend brought him alcohol he'd actually have to change his name, move to Iceland and become a sheep farmer out of sheer embarrassment. Jason is probably just trying to get Jeno’s approval, thinks he's being cool, or something. Maybe it is cool in America, Jeno wouldn't know.

The night only goes downhill from there. More people are dancing now, but Jeno is too uptight to dance with his dad and potential step-dad watching, so he just hovers around the perimeter of the gym like a weirdo because he doesn't know what else to do with himself. Mark, the angel, stays with him, so at least he isn't alone. At some point Jeno tells him about Jason’s party favour, and Mark laughs for a solid minute.

Then the costume contest officially starts, and the general awkwardness of the whole ordeal up to this point has been bearable by comparison. The contest is kind of a train wreck.

As it turns out, Jeno’s dad had entered the three of them in the contest without telling Jeno, and he has to walk up to the stage to accept their award, because they fucking won. Jeno’s pretty sure somebody rigged the results just to sabotage him personally, because what the hell. It's the actual worst moment of Jeno’s life, standing there holding a tiny stupid plastic trophy with his dad and his dad’s boyfriend beaming proudly behind him in their matching outfits. He's just glad he doesn't have to give an acceptance speech or something. He would actually pass out.

People congratulate Jeno as he walks toward the doors, because he really has had enough of this night. He tells his friends he's leaving, and they all nod in understanding. They'd want to get the fuck out of dodge too, if they were in his position.

When Jeno gets home, he dumps his costume on the floor and pulls on some sweatpants and his favorite worn out T-shirt with a faded milk bottle on the front. He flops face first onto his bed, and wishes his life was a little more like a John Hughes film and less like a bad sitcom. Not that he wants a full on Pretty in Pink moment or anything, but it would be nice if his dad would give him some space. And also if his dad's boyfriend would stop trying so hard to be relatable.

Jeno’s heavy sigh is muffled into his comforter. School on Monday is gonna be hell.

**Author's Note:**

> hmu on [twitter](https://twitter.com/mullethyuck) if you have any prompts because apparently i'll write anything


End file.
